NBA power rankings for mid-January

By Rick Morris

Previous rankings are in parentheses, from start of December to present.

FIRST TIER

1 Indiana (1-1-2)

2 San Antonio (3-4-4)

3 Oklahoma City (5-2-1)

4 Miami (2-5-3)

5 Portland (4-3-5)

SECOND TIER

6 Golden State (9-10-9)

7 LA Clippers (7-7-6)

8 Houston (6-6-7)

9 Dallas (10-11-10)

10 Phoenix (13-9-8)

11 Toronto (21-23-15)

12 Denver (8-8-16)

13 Atlanta (12-13-11)

14 Chicago (18-20-22)

15 Washington (17-21-14)

16 Memphis (15-17-17)

17 Minnesota (14-14-13)

THIRD TIER

18 New Orleans (16-12-12)

19 New York (28-27-27)

20 Detroit (20-18-19)

21 Sacramento (27-26-25)

22 Brooklyn (25-24-24)

23 Charlotte (19-19-18)

24 Utah (30-30-29)

25 Philadelphia (24-28-26)

26 Cleveland (26-22-28)

27 LA Lakers (11-16-21)

28 Boston (23-15-20)

29 Orlando (22-25-23)

FOURTH TIER

30 Milwaukee (29-29-30)

BIGGEST RISERS: Chicago and New York (8 spots), Utah (5 spots), Denver and Toronto (4 spots), Golden State (3 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: Boston (8 spots), LA Lakers, New Orleans and Orlando (6 spots), Charlotte (5 spots), Minnesota and Sacramento (4 spots)

RANKINGS BY DIVISION – 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL TEAM, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST

1 SOUTHWEST 53

2 NORTHWEST 61

3 PACIFIC 71

4 SOUTHEAST 84

5 CENTRAL 91

6 ATLANTIC 105

RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE

1 WEST 185

2 EAST 280